The Path of Immortality: Starts With Creating Water Bear Gu-Chapter 394: The Shocked Crowd

Amidst the astonished gazes of the crowd, five clones grabbed the spiritual herbs from the table and placed them into their respective alchemy furnaces, igniting the flames to begin refining pills. Each clone was clearly refining a different type of pill.

Just like when refining the great cauldron pill technique before, Long Xuan skipped the step of extracting the medicinal essence one by one. To save time, he threw all the ingredients from the pill formula into the alchemy furnaces at once. Relying on his numerous soul fragments, he refined all the ingredients simultaneously after they entered the furnaces.

Seeing Long Xuan’s unconventional alchemy method, the judges couldn't help but twitch their mouths. This was the first time they had witnessed such a way of refining pills—utterly reckless!

Under normal circumstances, there wouldn’t be enough time to refine even a single batch of pills, but at this speed, how could it not be fast? As long as the furnaces didn’t explode, he might actually be able to complete the process within the time limit.

This peculiar alchemy technique piqued the curiosity of many, prompting them to turn their eyes toward him, trying to steal his method.

At this moment, Long Xiaoyao finally felt relieved. Regardless of the pill’s quality, at least it could be completed within the allotted time.

However, his brows quickly furrowed again. Long Xuan was refining five furnaces of pills simultaneously, but they were clearly five different types of pills.

The rules of the third round were not about the number of pills refined but rather about evaluating the value of the pills. What exactly was Long Xuan trying to achieve? Long Xiaoyao couldn’t figure it out, and his frown deepened.

Feng Tiancheng glanced at him and sneered disdainfully. "I was wondering what kind of enlightenment he just had, and this is all he comprehended?"

"So he merely figured out five pill recipe? He only changed the attributes of the ingredients, meaning he essentially just created a single formula."

"These pills seem to be related to breakthrough enhancement, but a third-grade Breakthrough Pill is not as valuable as a third-grade Ice-Fire Polar Pill."

"By refining third-grade Breakthrough Pills, he won't earn the highest score; in fact, his score will lag far behind the others."

"Does he think refining multiple furnaces will increase his points? It looks like he doesn’t even understand the rules. He’s bound to lose this round."

Long Xiaoyao remained silent. He had no words to refute.

"What the hell is he doing?! What’s the point of refining five furnaces of pills at once? What’s the point of showing off? Does he think flashy techniques will raise his score?" Long Yuyao clenched her fists, her face dark with frustration, shouting in exasperation.

Ancestor Burning Heaven shook his head and sighed. "What a pity. A wasted opportunity."

At this moment, many people revealed looks of disappointment. Some spectators had already foreseen the outcome, shook their heads, and began to leave.

However, just as a large number of spectators reached the exit, an unexpected turn of events occurred.

Long Xuan’s alchemy speed was simply too fast—so fast that the pills were already forming!

The five clones almost simultaneously struck their alchemy furnaces. The lids of the furnaces shot high into the air, and five perfectly round pills flew out from each one. Their colors varied—gold, green, blue, red, and brown—perfectly corresponding to the five elemental attributes of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.

Although no one had ever seen these pills before, it was clear they were self-created recipe. However, that was all—original recipe did not grant additional points in the third round.

Many people showed mocking expressions at this moment.

Yet just when they thought the alchemy process was over and most judges had already assigned their scores, an astonishing scene unfolded before their eyes.

The twenty-five pills that had shot into the air did not fall back down. Instead, they flew toward the center, ultimately landing inside the silver alchemy furnace in the middle.

At this moment, Long Xuan’s true body, who had been sitting with his eyes closed in meditation, finally opened them. A flash of fire flickered within his pupils, and a deep crimson flame suddenly rose beneath the alchemy furnace.

He was preparing to refine another pill!!!

"This…!"

At that moment, all the judges stood up in shock, their eyes widening to the extreme, their expressions filled with disbelief.

They finally understood what he had been planning all along—he wasn’t refining pills earlier; he was refining materials!

He intended to use this method to enhance the quality of his ingredients, thereby surpassing Ancestor Burning Heaven and Qin Dan.

Using pills as materials to refine an even greater pill—this was his true objective.

"Hiss…"

At that moment, the entire venue was filled with the sound of people drawing sharp breaths in astonishment.

The spectators who were about to leave all stopped in their tracks, turned around, and revealed expressions of deep shock. At this moment, no one could remain calm.

"How is this possible? He is actually using pills as ingredients to refine a new pill. Such a method is unheard of—this has never existed throughout history!"

"Refining a pill using other pills? What an incredibly creative idea! It's like a nested doll technique! I wonder if he can keep stacking them further? This is pure genius!"

"Tsk tsk, using pills as ingredients means that the material quality will definitely surpass that of ordinary spiritual herbs. Pills refined this way are bound to be exceptional. Now I’m really curious to see what he will produce in the end."

"The fusion of the spiritual energy from twenty-five types of spiritual pills—regardless of the medicinal effects, just the concentration of spiritual energy alone is already comparable to a fourth-grade spiritual pill! This young man is truly defying the heavens!"

After a brief moment of astonishment, the panel of judges erupted into chaos, loudly discussing the situation among themselves. Their faces were flushed with excitement, displaying unprecedented loss of composure.

Feng Tiancheng clenched his fists tightly, his face gradually darkening. An ominous feeling surged in his heart, filling him with unease. This scene was making him panic.

"Hahaha… I knew it! There was no way he was refining such low-grade pills. Turns out, he had this hidden trump card—using pills to refine pills! Such an idea is practically divine. He is a peerless prodigy!"

Long Xiaoyao excitedly slapped the table and burst into laughter.

He turned his triumphant gaze toward Feng Tiancheng and smirked. "My apologies, but it seems he has successfully refined a fourth-grade pill. It looks like you’re going to lose this round once again."

"Prepare your five peak-grade Gu insects. I will reluctantly accept them, haha… I just hope that losing ten of your life-bound Gu insects doesn’t turn you into a cripple."

Feng Tiancheng’s fists clenched even tighter. At this moment, he seemed utterly lost, his bloodshot eyes fixed on the silver pill furnace. His expression was twisted with tension, and it was unclear what he was praying for—he had no energy left to respond.

Old Ancestor Burning Heaven narrowed his eyes slightly, staring intently at Long Xuan with a solemn expression. "I never expected that alchemy could be performed this way. This has truly broadened my horizons."

"If this pill is successfully refined, it might not be a fourth-grade spiritual pill, but it will surpass fourth-grade spiritual pills. Its score will likely exceed ninety points."

With a deep frown, he muttered, "Where exactly did this young man come from? He has repeatedly caught me off guard."

Qin Dan glanced at him before shifting his focus to Long Xuan. The corners of his lips curled into a slight smile. "Interesting, interesting—this is truly fascinating. Such an alchemy technique is extraordinarily creative. This will be a historic milestone in the field of alchemy."

"After this competition, this method will undoubtedly shake the entire alchemy world. Every alchemist will rush to study it, and a new school of alchemy will be born. This is an event that will go down in history."

After sighing in admiration, Qin Dan’s expression turned serious. "This year's Western Region Alchemy Competition is truly filled with hidden dragons and crouching tigers. So many monstrous geniuses have emerged one after another."

"I initially thought that, as the former champion of the Western Region Alchemy League, I would win this competition with absolute certainty. But this year’s competition is full of abnormalities—first, Ancestor Burning Heaven appeared, and now he has appeared as well. I haven't had any advantage in the first three rounds at all."

"Haha! I have no regrets in losing this round."

Then, using soul transmission, he spoke to a mysterious soul residing within him:

"Little Medicine Boy, this must be your old friend, right? I can’t believe someone from such a barren land could defy the heavens like this. His mind is nearly as brilliant as mine."

"Looks like I’ve found a real opponent. I need to start taking this competition seriously now."

As he finished speaking, his gaze sharpened, and a trace of seriousness flashed in his eyes.

At that moment, a voice echoed in his mind:

"Then you really need to take him seriously. My old friend here is a true child of destiny—no matter what he does, he always seems to have the wind at his back."

"Moreover, his ideas are wild and boundless. His imagination is no weaker than mine. He created the Little Strong Gu when he was still underage. By now, his intellect must have become even more terrifying."

"I advise you to focus all your attention on him. Trust me—he’s even more troublesome than Ancestor Burning Heaven!"